prayer at another level

Jesus Knew…..

Again, I’m focusing on the passages of the Passion. This one is from John 13 verses 3-5:

“Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into His hands, that He had come from God, and that He was going back to God. So He got up from supper, laid aside His robe, took a towel, and tied it around Himself. Next, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around Him.”

Jesus washed His disciples feet. The very act of a humble servant. Yet, what caught my attention in this reading was the statement that “Jesus knew”. What did He know? Three things:

that the Father had given everything into His hands

that He had come from God

that He was going back to God

The Father had given everything to Him! This is stated in the past tense, that means it was already done. And just in case you’re wondering that word translated everything, yep it means all things or everything. So Jesus knew that He was in charge of all things! He was secure in the fact that He had authority over everything in all creation.

Jesus also knew that He had come from God. Again this is stated in the past tense. The Greek word here translated ‘from’ is apo. It means from, of separation, of origin. His origin was the very nature of God! This is interesting to me. You see, Jesus knew exactly who He was and from where He had come. These first two things tell me that Jesus was secure, completely, in who He was and in what His past was. He did not wonder about this.

The third thing Jesus knew, from this passage, was that He was going back to God. This phrase is stated in the future tense. It was going to happen and Jesus knew it. This tells me that Jesus was secure in His future. He did not have a worry about what would happen to Him, because He knew already.

So having security both in His past, person-hood, and future gave Him the ability to be totally focused on the present moment. He had no concern for His past nor anxiety about the future so He could show His disciples the “full extent of His love”!

Application time! If we have the same mind set about our pasts, ourselves, and our futures then we can live in the moment and love those who are right in front of us. Know this, that if you have received the Lord Jesus as your Savior and Lord, then:

your past is atoned for by the blood of Jesus and you need not worry over it

you are His treasure, and you can be secure in who you are in Him

your future is secure, you will one day live eternally in His Presence

Faith covers our past, hope provide assurance of our future and that leaves the greatest of these! Love! Love is left to govern our present.

May we live each moment knowing these things and walking in love just like our Lord Jesus! Amen.